OSU President will step down in 15 months

Oregon State President Ed Ray will step down when his current contract expires on June 30, 2020, he announced in a letter posted on the University’s website Friday morning.

#Breaking Oregon State University President Ed Ray has announced he will step down when his current contract expires in summer 2020.

— 102.9/750 The Game (@1029TheGame) March 22, 2019

“I am writing to let you know that it is my intention to step down as president of Oregon State University on June 30, 2020, when my current five-year contract will be completed,” Ray wrote.

Ray has served as OSU president since July 2003, and will complete nearly 17 years in the position upon his departure.

He will be nearly 76 years old when he steps down, and writes that he will make a transition to become an econ professor at the College of Liberal Arts on campus.

In Pac-12 athletic circles, Ray has been known to be one of the most staunch supporters of the ever-suspect commissioner Larry Scott.  Ray has responded vociferously against many of our own John Canzano’s reports of Scott’s foibles, exorbitance, and general lack of strong leadership.

Ray’s imminent departure creates some questions for University leadership at present as well as the future.  The next hire will be particularly important as a struggling football program tries to find its bearings, and complete a renovation project, that gets Beaver Nation excited about athletic excellence again.

As for Larry Scott, his contract expires in 2022 as Pac-12 Commissioner.  Having an ally leave before that time should make him uneasy.

Read the letter in its entirety on Oregon State’s website here.

@1029TheGame